Shutdown: Americans prefer zombies, hemorrhoids, IRS to Congress

CaptionWashington, D.C.

Andrew Harrer / Bloomberg

The District of Columbia, whose budgets are ultimately under the control of Congress, has declared that it will cease none of its typical operations should the government shut down. The district, which experienced extensive furloughs in previous shutdowns, has stood in defiance of a repeat of 1995. "I have determined that everything the District government does -- protecting the health, safety and welfare of our residents and visitors -- is essential," Mayor Vincent Gray said in a statement.

The District of Columbia, whose budgets are ultimately under the control of Congress, has declared that it will cease none of its typical operations should the government shut down. The district, which experienced extensive furloughs in previous shutdowns, has stood in defiance of a repeat of 1995. "I have determined that everything the District government does -- protecting the health, safety and welfare of our residents and visitors -- is essential," Mayor Vincent Gray said in a statement. (Andrew Harrer / Bloomberg)

The Smithsonian will not only be closing its 18 museums and the National Zoo to all visitors, but also furloughing all but 688 of its 4,202 employees. As with all agencies, the protection of life or property accounts for most of those exemptions, but in the case of the Smithsonian, that includes responsibility for the various animals, archival documents and artifacts under their care.

The Smithsonian will not only be closing its 18 museums and the National Zoo to all visitors, but also furloughing all but 688 of its 4,202 employees. As with all agencies, the protection of life or property accounts for most of those exemptions, but in the case of the Smithsonian, that includes responsibility for the various animals, archival documents and artifacts under their care. (Handout / MCT)

At this point, the polls are pretty consistent: Americans are angry about the budget and shutdown shenanigans in Washington, but they’re angrier at Republicans than they are at Democrats. Which should tell you something about who is really to blame for this mess.

But Public Policy Polling took things a step further, asking people whether they preferred Congress to a series of ailments, celebrities, serial killers and oft-loathed government agencies. Here's what the polling group found:

Americans currently have a higher opinion of witches (46/32), jury duty (73/18) and hemorrhoids (53/31) than Congress. Republicans seem much more accepting of Congress over hemorrhoids compared to other voters -- 41% favored Congress more than the diseases, as opposed to only 25% of Democrats and 27% of Independents.

Even government institutions like the DMV and the IRS are seen as more favorable than Congress currently, at 58/24 and 42/33 respectively. Almost twice as many Republicans still support Congress over the IRS (48/25), while only 23% of Democrats do (23/59).

Half of registered voters have a higher opinion of Congress than of Anthony Weiner right now (50/23). In fact, public figures are some of the only people that registered voters dislike more than the legislature.

“Congress having an 8% approval rating tells us one thing about how unhappy voters are,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. “But it’s even more telling that voters have a lower opinion of it than annoyances like the DMV and jury duty, health issues like hemorrhoids, and even witches.”

A poll like this almost seems like a practical joke, but it’s not. Public Policy Polling did a similar poll earlier this year, during the last debt ceiling fight, said polling specialist Jim Williams. “Our director, Tom Jensen, said ‘Let’s do a poll comparing Congress to a bunch of things people think are terrible. It’s for fun, but it’s not made up.'”

That poll, conducted in January, found Congress less popular than root canals, head lice, colonoscopies and Brussel sprouts.

The U.S. government has officially shut down, bringing with it thousands of furloughs, cutbacks in federal services and a number of smaller-scale rollbacks that have flown under the radar. Read more: Government shutdown Q&A: Why it's about to get more complicated

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